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If his Conservative opponents were watching Justin Trudeau Saturday, and you can bet many were, they learned two things about the man who is now just weeks away from assuming the Liberal leadership.

In a sterile airport strip ballroom, the young Papineau MP showed that he can deftly disarm an opponent and, when another overplayed her hand and stepped on her own landmine, he demonstrated he can skilfully exploit the opportunity for his own benefit.

Neither trait alone would fast-track anyone to 24 Sussex Drive, but they are valuable political skills to have and two more boxes to check off as Liberals and the rest of the country get to know the man.

He and challenger Marc Garneau stood beside each other at the podium, enduring the TV countdown with the entire hall expecting the former astronaut to make good on his pledge to unmask Trudeau as all hair, no cattle, to twist a well-known Southern U.S. put-down.

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“I wonder what Marc is going to ask me about?” Trudeau teased, piercing any tension between the two men.

Moments later, the hall was singing “Happy Birthday” to Garneau’s 90-year-old mother and the edge was gone.

Later in the debate, he parried Garneau’s contention that he had stolen his policy on student debt by ’fessing up with an A-OK signal and a thumb’s-up.

Another time, he hugged him as George Takach, who has proved to be nothing more than a waste of a finely cut suit in these proceedings, questioned Garneau’s mathematical acumen.

But in what will become a defining moment in this leadership race, it was Trudeau’s response to Martha Hall Findlay that will be remembered.

There are ways to go after Trudeau, but Hall Findlay showed everyone in the hall how not to do it with her awkward, over-the-top claim that a child of privilege should not be speaking for the middle class.

So taken aback by the reaction, Hall Findlay was moved to apologize Sunday. “There are some who believe that I overstepped a line in the leadership debate (Saturday). To Justin, his family and to those who were offended, I apologize,” Hall Findlay said in a statement posted to her website.

She was too eager to go after Trudeau on a question he must have been ready for and, although she later said there was nothing personal in her question, it was asked in a personal matter.

Interestingly, it was a question I asked Garneau at lunch last week, and a question he smartly avoided, saying that criticizing people for their financial station in life was a form of discrimination, whether we were talking wealth or poverty.

Hall Findlay had no such reticence and she gave Trudeau the opportunity for a rousing defence, and his contention that he has been lucky enough to be able to spend his time giving everything back “in service of my community.’’

By contrast, Garneau more subtly pushed Trudeau on gaps in his resumé, telling the front-runner leadership means more than giving motivational speeches and Trudeau retorted that leadership was also more than delivering five-point plans at press conferences.

But, unlike the overheated Hall Findlay intervention, it was handled respectfully by both men.

Garneau looked like the smartest of the challengers last week by saying before the debate that Trudeau had to show more substance, giving himself a couple of days of unfettered attention with a press conference and select interviews.

When it came to the debate itself, Garneau pulled back a bit, having already delivered his message. But it appeared Hall Findlay so desperately wanted a piece of that action that the grenade went off in her hand.

If this race was all about second place, it is Garneau who has shown growth and political smarts throughout.

But, in fact, this exercise was all about showcasing Trudeau and, after some early missteps, Liberals must be feeling better about their presumptive leader.

We can’t look to the debate formats to gauge gravitas because they are not structured in a way in which that can be showcased.

And should any Liberal be fearful that Hall Findlay had provided Conservatives with a clip to use against Trudeau, they can probably be safe in the knowledge that the Trudeau attacks have already been compiled and they didn’t need any help from the former Willowdale MP.

This is a three-step dance for Trudeau: a leadership race, a bit more than a year as leader and an election campaign.

He is handling the first step well, but then again, that was always the easiest step.

Tim Harper is a national affairs writer. His column appears Monday, Wednesday and Friday. tharper@thestar.ca

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